Evaluation of active biomechanical parameters with activated exoskeleton (2017)

Funding

Colombian School of Engineering Julio Garavito.

Abstract

Locomotion is an activity of great importance in human development. In Colombia, 6.3% of the population suffers from permanent limitations, of which 29.5% suffer mobility-related disability. Given these circumstances, there is an important need to improve the skills of patients with pathological gait, in order to obtain an efficient and safe walking. Within this approach, active exoskeletons can be used to supplement, replace, or enhance human performance with respect to a limb, providing a solution to limitations that can not be treated surgically. In this context it is proposed the biomechanical evaluation of the exoskeleton that is currently under development in the Colombian School of Engineering, so that it is possible to compare the parameters obtained with running without the use of the device. Such comparisons are expected to occur between gearless running, a passive configuration and an active configuration. These studies allow the validation of the use of exoskeletons from kinematic parameters of the body, which allow us to evaluate our design and propose bio-inspired models that allow to make contributions to the state of the art.